U.S Housing Starts and Permits Fall in December

By IBT Staff Reporter On 01/19/12 AT 9:34 AM

The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S Census Bureau jointly delivered the latest estimates of the new residential construction indices for the month of November, showing housing starts fell 4.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657 thousand, after rising a revised 9.1 percent in November.

Building permits, a proxy into building activities for six to three months ahead, dropped 0.1 percent to annual pace of 679 thousand units in December, after jumping a revised 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 680 thousand in November, yet beating forecasted drop of -0.2 percent by markets.